When Too Much is Too little: The Impact of Increased Perceptual Load on the Focus of Attention in Typically Developing Individuals and in Individuals with Autism

Principal Investigator: Jason Ringo, McGill University - Educational and Counselling Psychology

This study assesses visuospatial differences in attention in typically developing individuals and in individuals with ASD, with the goal of understanding how an increased perceptual load influences attention. The stimuli presented during the five computer tasks are in the form of social and non-social cues and will inform on how individuals with autism process these differing types of information. The research findings may contribute to the current methods for screening of ASD and in identifying ASD severity.

Parenting Stress in Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities

Principal Investigator: Dr. Adrienne Perry, Busisiwe Ncube, York University –Psychology Department 

The goal of this study is to examine the factors related to parent stress among parents of children with developmental conditions who are also African-American immigrants.

Support Matters! Investigating Transitions and Online Support

Principal Investigator: Dr. Lucyna Lach, McGill University –School of Social Work

The first objective of this study is to understand what parents need at different points of transition in their child’s and family’s life. The second objective aims to understand the type of support that would benefit parents participating within an online support forum. 

Assessing the efficacy of a visuo-attentive cognitive training program for children with or without a developmental disability

Principal Investigator: Domenico Tullo, McGill University – Educational and Counselling Psychology

The researchers are using the Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) task, where students need to pay attention to multiple bouncing balls on a screen, to measure if any improvement in cognitive abilities or behaviors coincides with improvement on this task.